Arctic Shadows
by TheMaster4444
Summary: Sequel to Strike at Red Sands. Percy has returned! Freed from his captivity in Zia's tomb, the son of Poseidon in aghast at the horrors of the current conflict. So when Carter offers an all or nothing duel for the fate of the war, the demigod leaps at the chance. But Setne has set his final trap and his apocalyptic plot may force the sides to face him as one. Or face annihilation.
1. Chapter 1

Arctic Shadows

Chapter 1

Prodigal

Percy's POV

Well I woke up to hell, didn't I?

First, I find Hazel wraped up like a Christmas present and Frank beaten and tenderized like a hamburger patty by some girl with pink stuff in her hair and a giant stick. Next, I find out that my powers had been amplified tenfold and my soul was barely staying attached to my body. Finally, after I rescue everyone from near death, I learn that I woke up late from my six month captivity coma and over a hundred other demigods, several of them my close friends, have already been killed that day. Oh also, we're at war.

Faces flashed through my mind's eye: Nico, shadowy and strong, Reyna, abiding and strict, the Stroll brothers, comical and adventurous, all taken by the ravages of war. Even Clarisse, good old stupid and unnaturally aggressive Clarisse was dead, her corpse sinking into the icy Russian wasteland of St. Petersburg. And I wasn't around to even try to save them.

The medics told me that my captivity was strangely beneficial for me. For one, I was taller which I didn't complain about. But the moisture absorption rate of my body was now unnaturally high. When I asked them to explain what in Zeus' name that meant, they explained that though my body rejuvenated itself from water before, now all it needed was a single drop and I'd be in top fighting form. Hopefully, this would allow me to make up for lost time.

"You're thinking Seaweed Brain" Annabeth teased as she lay in my arms on top of the bed in the spare quarters of the _Fulminata. _The walls and floor of the room were the bare wood of the ship's hull, as I had been missing for six months and all of Annabeth's affects were in her room on the _Ultor _when Carter destroyed the vessel at Al-Hamrah Makan. But I had a bed to cuddle with Annabeth so I had no objections.

I maneuvered my arms to avoid the cast that was healing her left arm, which had been both broken and ripped to shreds during her last duel with Carter Kane. As I held her close, I planted a small kiss on her forehead. "Sorry if I'm interfering in the _status quo, _Wise Girl" I responded lightly. "Just everything that has happened since I woke up is, well, overwhelming. Also I feel like a complete idiot for listening to that voice in my head and not hearing you the day I disappeared. Almost everyone is dead because of my stupidity."

Annabeth tilted my face down to face her while angling to see me herself. We looked into each other's eyes for a moment and saw everything that had happened between us. The joy of our victories, the anguish of our time apart, and of course, the unprecedented exhilaration and love behind our kisses. Which we promptly did partake in. Annabeth stared at me once more. "I'm not dead, Percy" she assured me. "And I won't be any time soon."

We came in for another kiss and with accordance with my friends' horrible timing, Jason burst in at that moment. Just between you and me, he looked really shaken up. Like 'Holy gods, I'm going to die and there is nothing I can do about it' shaken up. But all he said was, "You guys are going to want to see this."

"What is it?" Annabeth asked sluggishly, obviously as irked as I was to have our moment interrupted.

"A message from Carter" Jason answered quickly. "And like I said, you'll want to see this for yourself."

The son of Jupiter exited back to the war room. Annabeth and I regretfully rose and went to join him. No rest for the wicked.

**And so the premiere of Arctic Shadows, hooray.**

**I believe that I will do one more story in this series after this.**

**Also, sorry this is so short, but my openers always are.**

**REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

Arctic Shadows

Chapter 2

The Challenge

Jason's POV

After I finished rounding everyone up for the war meeting, I returned to the _Fulminata's _main hall. Over the course of the next minute, Hazel, Annabeth, and Percy all gradually stumbled into the chamber. Frank was absent because he was still being treated for the near death wounds he suffered during what was quickly becoming known through the ranks as the Disaster of Red Sands. Leo had stayed in his room moaning since he discovered that Reyna, his girlfriend, had gone down with her flagship, _Ultor._ I had tried to comfort him but to no avail.

_Bad Jason, _I belittled myself silently. If I thought about my conversation with Leo then I remembered the event that occurred when I left his room. Outside, The Three Fates had been awaiting me. They had held up a dangling thread of yarn and prophesied that "My thread is thinning." It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant. I would be seeing Reyna very soon.

But the matter at hand needed addressing and Percy and Annabeth would probably skin me alive if they thought that I had interrupted their reunification cuddling for nothing. "Well?" Annabeth demanded. "What did the message from Carter say?"

Not eager to provoke unnecessary conversation for fear of what I might let slip, I tossed the sheet of ink covered papyrus across the table to the daughter of Athena. She picked the sheet up in her working arm and silently read it to herself. "Oh gods" she muttered.

"What is it? What does the letter say?" Percy pestered worryingly.

Annabeth sucked in a breath and began to read the message aloud.

"_Dear Percy Jackson, _

_I understand that you have recently rejoined your brethren in the war against the House of Life. You will also have learned about the immense bloodshed that has taken its toll on both sides. Therefore, I propose a duel to end this destructive conflict. To death or yield, we shall battle. Bring two other demigods with you to act as both witnesses and your seconds. I shall do the same, and await you exactly one mile west of the Great Pyramid. Face me if you dare murderer._

_Carter Kane."_

We all stared breathlessly at Percy. I myself was elated. We had just been handed an Imperial Golden opportunity to win the war. With minimal bloodshed at that! All Percy needed to do was defeat an extremely powerful magician who took down an entire flying trireme in the blink of an eye and nearly killed Annabeth. Hey, the guy has a track record for doing the impossible. He came back from Tartarus for gods' sake.

The son of Poseidon lifted his head. "First off" he began. "What the hell is a second?"

I was able to answer that inquiry. "In a duel of honor, each contender brings a second. The seconds' job is to essentially serve as insurance for their duelist. If an opposing combatant broke the rules, the second shot them on the spot."

"Fun" Percy remarked. "So if I'm going to participate in this duel, who are my seconds going to be? You are obviously one" he said referring to me. "But who else, Frank is on an operating table, Annabeth is still injured, and no offense Hazel, but the last time I saw you up against one of these guys, you were a yarn spool."

_Yarn, thread, death. _Okay now I was going crazy.

"No offense taken" Hazel responded politely. "But that does limit your options if you want your second; well, second to have any abnormal demigod powers"-

"I'll go" stated a familiar harsh voice entering the room.

We all turned to see Leo arriving on a red carpet of fury. Without another word he plopped himself down in his seat with his flaming hand threatening to incinerate the table. Fortunately, Percy drew out some water from the surrounding air to quench the fire. "Um, Leo" Hazel piped. "Are you alright?"

"Other than the fact that my girlfriend has just died a fiery death as her magically flying warship that I designed was destroyed by a fifteen foot tall hawk headed Egyptian son of a bitch, yes I am absolutely peachy. Though personally I'm rather hoping that those asses try something dirty. Then I can deal out a little fiery vengeance" Leo fantasized with an unnatural gleam in his eye.

The whole affair left me uneasy though a moment later, Percy turned to the rest of us. "There is one thing I don't get" he confessed. "Why did Carter call me a murderer?"

Personally, I was slightly confused on that matter as well. I knew that there was a rumor going around that Carter was insane but he had always seemed fine to me. You know, other than the fact that he was evil. Annabeth, I noticed, was twiddling her thumbs under the table. "Percy" she slowly began. "The Egyptians' excuse for starting the war was that you killed one of their initiates. A little girl named Shelby."

Percy's eyes took on a look of sudden realization. "It all makes sense now. When I first encountered magicians, I walked in on the dead body of a toddler, still fresh. I had Riptide out so the two who showed up must have thought I had killed. And when I disappeared, they took their anger out on Camp Half-Blood." He slumped back in his chair. "This is all because I listened to that stupid voice."

"Don't you dare back out of this fight Percy" Leo threatened. We all turned to him, aghast. "Even if these fools thought you had killed one of theirs, they still attacked and nearly killed Piper and Chiron during a diplomatic meeting. They started this war and now you have a chance to end it, so don't you dare back out of this fight!"

We all sat there in silence. Leo had never been the type to give speeches and he had just delivered one that was both inspiring and terrifying. Percy responded his faithful pen/sword Riptide being smacked down onto the table. "Then let's kick some ass."

Carter's POV

I finished writing the message to Percy as quickly as I could and settled back into my throne. Sadie instantly questioned my choice of action. "You do realize what a completely idiotic move that was, right? Divine words apparently don't work on Jackson and he took you down with one shot at Al-Hamrah Makan."

"He was in his element there, Sadie" I countered. "Now we will be in the middle of a desert. Can you think of a place with less water? Besides, I have combat magic if divine words fail. If anyone stands a chance of taking Jackson down, it's me. And you are going to be one of my seconds."

My sister breathed a sigh of exasperation. "Then who is the other one going to be? Zia's fire will probably flounder against an aquatic assault and Walt is still out of zombies since Leo turned most of them to ashes. I'm not seeing a whole lot of options when it comes to plausible survivors."

I began to concentrate hard on finding the answer to that same problem. I needed a wild card, someone who the demigods would never see coming. Something crazy and unpredictable and full of ingenuity. A smile crossed my face as I realized the obvious choice.

**Review Please !**


	3. Chapter 3

Arctic Shadows

Chapter 3

Preperations

Percy's POV

Annabeth took me to the armory to prepare for the upcoming duel. The facility was a long corridor with rows upon rows of weapons lining shelves on either side. Apparently, the camps had moved past the age of sword and spear alone because there were guns with celestial bronze ammunition, crossbows with bolts filled with Greek fire and crazy armor that looked like it wouldn't be out of place on Batman.

Annabeth turned towards me when we reached the end of the hall. "Alright Seaweed Brain" she began. "Since I know you can't shop for your life, I will be selecting your attire for your upcoming event."

"Event? Attire? Annabeth, it's a fight to the death with the most powerful Egyptian magician in the world, not senior prom" I insisted.

"I know that Percy. Besides if it was senior prom I would keep to my agreement with your mother and let her pick out your cloths."

I really hoped I had not heard that right but my girlfriend continued before I could ask one way or the other. "Knowing how you fight Percy, heavy armor is a big no. You need something light and sleek that won't restrict your movement." She went over to an armor rack that looked like the side of a walk in closet. Rapidly shifting through the many selections, she eventually pulled out what looked to be a regular Camp Half-Blood t-shirt except with full length sleeves made of Imperial Gold. "Immortal class special operations armor, some of Leo's finest work."

"You want me to wear long sleeves in the desert?"

"Only until you kick Carter's ass back to camp" Annabeth explained while tossing the clothing to me. "Besides, the sleeves are there for a reason. Put the thing on and see for yourself."

Sighing, I took off the orange camp T-shirt I was wearing (Annabeth did not even bother to pretend to look away) and replaced it with the battle version. The fabric was strangely just as breathable and I didn't feel like I was wearing anything at all.

"The cloth has celestial bronze mesh sewn throughout the piece to give it additional resilience and durability" Annabeth explained. "But that is just the beginning. Point at that open wall over there and bend your wrist down. If you want one to, a knife will shoot out of the sleeve and fly up to a hundred feet."

"Really?" I inquired with equal excitement and curiosity. Quickly I followed suit with the suggestion and sure enough, a six inch throwing dagger flew out of my sleeve and embedded itself in the polished wood of the hull. "Cool."

"Very" Annabeth agreed. "Since you can't hit the broad side of, well anything, with a bow and arrow, I thought you might appreciate some ranged weaponry. You can't rely on your powers for everything. And since we don't know how high you can hover on your new mini cyclones, if you bend your wrist upward you get"- I performed the action before she finished and one of those climber hook things shot with a rope attaching it to my arm. – "A grappling hook" she finished. "Able to wind you towards itself or bring whatever it latches onto to you. Please don't try to do either of those in here."

I manually retracted the line back into my sleeve and the hook dissipated into the shirt. After that I turned to Annabeth. "Am I allowed to do something that doesn't involve the armor?" I asked. She smiled mischievously (which Annabeth does not do often) and we both enveloped each other, first in a blooming embrace and then a passionate kiss. We might have stood there for hours, days, even weeks but I didn't care. I was with the girl I loved again after yet another extended period of absence. Seriously, couldn't supernatural beings find someone else to kidnap before every major conflict.

Eventually, we pulled out of the kiss but we kept holding on to each other. "If you don't come back Seaweed Brain, I will kill you" Annabeth warned.

"Don't worry Wise Girl" I assured her. "With luck, nobody is going to die today, on either side."

We pulled in for another kiss and for the millionth time I hated myself for missing six months of this.

Felix's POV

I was frantically shuffling through scrolls in the First Nome's library. _No Ice god, No Ice god, No Ice god, where the bloody hell is the name of the Ice god. _(In case you are wondering, I picked up the British cursing from Sadie) According to Carter's theories on how the path of the gods is channeled, you need to find a similarity between yourself and the god and exploit it. And since Carter chose me as his second second for his impending duel to the death with Percy damn Jackson, the power boost that would supplied would be useful. However, discovering anything I have in common with said Ice god is difficult if I can't even find his bloody name.

Again and again I shuffled through every tablet, scroll and ancient text I could find but nothing was ever there. But I could not give up. If I gave up, then I wouldn't be strong enough to win the coming fight. And this was not a battle I could afford to lose. I had already failed too much. Shelby died because I wasn't attentive enough and even though Al-Hamrah Makan had ended well, I should have gone into Zia's tomb, just once to check what was down there. I could have found Jackson and then Annabeth, Hazel, and Frank would have been dead or captured. I could not fail again. So I needed every edge I could find.

"How did I know I would find you here?" said a very familiar voice from behind me. I didn't need to divert my attention to know who it was.

"I really don't have time to talk Julian" I insisted.

"I didn't think you would" he responded. "After all lately you've been spending more time in here than Cleo. So how about I talk and you listen."

"Fine" I grudgingly consented.

"Good. First, slow down. At the rate you are going, if you don't get some rest, you are going to give out before you are any use to anyone. Second, eat something. Nobody can fight on an empty stomach. Finally, stop pressuring yourself. The fate of the world does not rest solely on your shoulders."

"But it could" I yelled at him frustrated. "This entire mess is my fault and I need to make it better. I couldn't save Shelby and I couldn't save anyone else. Remember Paris? Because we screwed up, Amos is rotting in some demigod prison camp. You may be able to let everything go but **I **have to make it right!"

I expected him to scream at me in response, to tell me that what was done was done. Instead, he just looked tired and sad. If I didn't know for sure, I would have never taken him for the cocky jock that had used his minor role in defeating Apophis to pick up girls. Aghast, I realized that Julian hadn't let everything go; in fact he was probably tormenting himself more than I was.

He glanced at what I was reading and resigned himself to recommending, "Try the third volume."

As my friend walked away, I found the treasure I had sought.

**Okay, warning readers. Due to summer camp and other craziness in my life, I will likely only be able to put out a chapter a week maximum. And that is not a promise.**

**REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I have decided on a series name, "Judgment Wars".**

Arctic Shadows

Chapter 4

Verbal Warfare

Jason's POV

Leo and I rested against the _Fulminata_'_s _bow as the aerial vessel floated across the Alexandrian sky. The ship was, apart from us, completely vacant because the entire crew had been given the day off to mourn Reyna and recover from the recent campaign. As far as they knew, we were still waiting two weeks for Dakota's fleet to arrive and then the combined task force would launch a massive assault on the First Nome. They didn't know about Carter's letter, not like Leo and I.

We both wore nearly identical Immortal class special operations armor with the exception that the basis of mine was a purple Camp Jupiter shirt while Leo's was the familiar orange hue of Camp Half-Blood. Mrs. O'Leary was blissfully sleeping about three yards away, saving up energy for the trip to the duel site. Percy had decided on shadow travel to get there so we could show the Egyptians that we would keep to their conditions. Also, we could get the hell out a lot faster on a hellhound the size of a tank than without one.

We had been waiting for half an hour when Leo lost his patience. "What in the gods' names is taking Percy so long? The armor is not hard to put on."

"Give the guy a break" I admonished. "He just spent half a year underground in a tomb being held captive by an enemy he didn't know he had. Now he finds that the majority of his friends are dead and he has to master completely new battle armor for an upcoming duel to the death with one of the most powerful mortal beings on Earth. He is entitled to a little time to learn."

"And the person who is teaching him just happens to be his girlfriend" Leo pointed out. "There may be a little more than teaching going on down there. Scratch that, there is definitely a little more going on down there."

"Seriously Leo, what happened to you?" I asked tensely, aware of my friend's current unstable state.

He turned to me with a blank look in his eyes, as if silently asking me if that was truly a question that he needed to answer. "I lost the only person I truly loved and realized that I would always be the butt monkey of my circle of friends. Though since apparently grief has gone out of style because you haven't done anything but scorn mine."

I rushed at my elf like friend, grabbed the furls of his shirt collar, and rammed him against the hull of the trireme. "Never" I threatened him. "Never say I don't grieve. Never say I feel nothing when my friends die, because I do and it is wound that rips open again every time I watch another one fall."

"THEN WHY DO YOU ACT LIKE IT"S JUST ANOTHER DAY!?" Leo shouted as he shoved me away to the other side. "Why do keep your stinking armor all prim and perfect when everyone you care about is dying? Is it beneath the mighty Jason Grace to grieve for the dead?"

"NO!" I screamed back at my friend. "I feel all of it and I will grieve when there is time to grieve, the same as everyone else, except it seems you. Have you ever really studied the Second Titan War, Leo? Well guess what, there wasn't some small team quest like when we were on the Argo II. It was battle, plain and simple, either at Olympus or Othrys, with comrades falling by arrows, teeth, claws, or just snapped in two by monsters. Did we stop and grieve? No, because it wouldn't have helped them or honored their memory to let ourselves be cut down praying for them."

"Every demigod who has ever existed on or under this Earth is a soldier, whether they are Greek or Roman or somehow in between. We fight the demons and monsters of the world, we defend and serve the Olympian Council, and we preserve our way of life Leo! All of us, you, me, Reyna, Percy, we are the guardians of all Western Civilization. So unless you want to end up dead, save your vendetta for later and act like a warrior" I finished with vigor.

Instead of the positive kick back into action I was hoping for, Leo just let out a grin that looked completely insane. Then he started laughing. Not his usual laugh either. A creepy, skin crawling, hyena laugh that you would expect from the Joker as he revealed his latest deadly, comedy related plot on _Batman._ "It's funny" he chuckled out. "As you have just described, half- bloods are just the gods' lapdogs. Or their scalpel when they can't vaporize whatever is in their way." He held back for a moment, becoming more serious as if contemplating something he had never thought of before. "Makes you wonder what life would be like if the gods, maybe even just the Olympians, joined the countless ranks of monsters that we've killed in their names and dissipated into golden dust."

I could hardly believe what I was hearing. "Leo" I said, trying to be cautious about angering my friend. "What you're saying is complete madness. You think everything would be butterflies and rainbows if the gods, our parents, died. That would be considered treason in the Legion."

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing I'm not in the Legion" he countered. "Besides, the whole thing was just a thought. After all, gods can't die." He didn't seem convinced.

I gathered my courage, praying that my next words would not reveal too much of my foreknowledge. "Leo" I said calmly. "I want, no, need you to promise me that when I die, you will step up to the plate and protect and serve the gods as I have."

He looked at me as like he could think of a million things he would rather do then give me a promise, but I was saved from his inevitable 'go to hell' by Percy's arrival on deck, ready for combat. Silently, we all hoped on to Mrs. O'Leary, Leo staring daggers at me and Percy oblivious to the heated atmosphere he had just strode into. Me, all I could do was wait until shadows consumed us, knowing that my permanent descent would not be far off.

**REVIEW! The start of duel (I think, haven't planned this out beyond the general course) is next, but first character building was needed.**


	5. Chapter 5

Arctic Shadows

Chapter 5

Banter and Battle

Carter's POV

Sadie and Felix flanked me on either side as I awaited Percy Jackson's arrival at the Great Pyramid, the sun blazing down to cast a long shadow on the desert below. Not as large as Apophis' titanic casting that I saw down in the land of the demons but still impressive. I recalled how close we had all come to dying then. Worse than dying actually, we were facing total oblivion, banishment from the plane of existence. But in that dark hour, we had all stuck through hell and made it out alive from the apocalypse. This gave me confidence that if I could defeat the primordial essence of chaos, one demigod should be a piece of cake, even if I was still feeling worn out from my fight with his girlfriend. But he was awake for the first time in half a year so he should be even worse. Or at least, I told myself that.

Speak of the devil, Percy Jackson and two other demigods who I recognized as Jason Grace and Leo Valdez suddenly appeared from the depths of the shadow on top of a black mastiff the size of a tank. I recognized the beast from a brief encounter I had during the Battle of New York on the Long Island Sound.

The demigods descended from their gigantic mount, Percy and Leo clad in orange Camp Half- Blood shirts and Jason bearing the violet colors of Camp Jupiter. While the hellhound they had arrived on hopped over to the Great Pyramid (looking extremely tired I might add) the trio of foes assembled before my allies and I.

Silence wafted between the two parties like the fumes of dry ice. All of us had dark faces and were staring unwaveringly at the others with insurmountable hatred. Except for Percy ironically, he just sort of looked at what everyone else was doing and felt hopelessly lost. I guess he really didn't know just how badly out of control the war he had begun had gotten. Maybe next time he will think about that before he murders one of the House.

"So" I began, still unsure on exactly what to say to someone you are about to fight to the death. "As long as your dog doesn't mark the Great Pyramid as its territory, I guess we can get down to business. Do you agree to the conditions of the duel?" I asked as I drew the crook and flail from my belt.

Percy nodded, removing a pen from his pocket and transforming the writing utensil into a three foot bronze sword. "We fight until one of us dies or yields. The seconds are only to interfere if the other side attempts to cheat. The winner decides the fate of the war."

"Right" I confirmed, realizing that the possibility of me dying was greater than I had even conceived. Percy didn't care about me or himself; he just spilled out facts that related to his possible death without missing a beat for crying out loud. Something told me that he just wanted the people he cared about to be safe. There were very few lengths he was not willing to go to in order to do so. He did not care if I died and regarded himself with even less care. So with an ample amount of fear I my mind but none on my face, I spoke. "Then welcome to Thunder Dome."

We charged across the darkened sands.

Setne's POV

Waiting outside the First Nome's entrance was even more excruciatingly boring than the last time I had done so (Which is a long story involving a hunk of one of my old man's statue and some goat cheese). Seriously, had the demigods suddenly decided to give the Kanes time to have tea? There should have been fire raining from the sky (or technically _Argo IIIs _) and breaking off the sphinx's nose like it did in all those modern comedies (of course I was behind the original nose loss).

Anyway, I was about to smash the side of the stone structure, when I sensed the magical flare I had attached to Jackson on the slim chance I did lose possession of my new vessel. The failsafe triggered if his adrenaline levels rose to battle levels and granted me knowledge of his exact location. Which was surprisingly, right next to the Great Pyramid.

Quickly, I flew off towards the disturbance to reacquire my lost son of the sea god. When I arrived however, I saw that while a few spectators watched Jackson go one on one with Carter Kane. Carter Kane! I had been planning to kill the brat pharaoh along with the rest of the House of Life with my genius and completely fool proof plan. But it would be so much more gratifying to watch the kid get the crap beat out of him by the Savior of Olympus. Hovering against the pyramid's side, I settled in to watch the apocalypse's opening act.

Percy's POV

With all things considered, the duel was extremely mild compared to many of the others I have had over my six years as a demigod. Not to say it wasn't a venerable fight to the death, just that in terms of pure swordsmanship, I majorly outclassed Carter. This was somewhat to be expected as I had trained like hell after my complete and total curb stomping by Chrysaor on the _Argo II's _voyage to Rome. I had realized how large a weakness my greatest skill had become and rectified my error. And yes loyal readers, I know what rectify means.

His crook had some sort of shimmering extension that was almost ten yards long but as I had theability to see the obstacle, avoiding the problem was fairly simple. I jumped, dodged, twisted, and turned until I was within Riptide's three foot striking range. Carter brandished his war flail like a whip, expelling tendrils of flame in an effort to ward me off. Unfortunately for him, the desert did have some moisture in the air. A wave of my hand later and a shield of water had washed away the infernal assault.

That was when I realized something very important. He was exhausted. From what Annabeth had told me, Carter was supposed to be able to summon some kind of indomitable juggernaut avatar and smash through anything. Now he was a constantly retreating, average fighter who just happened to have some powerful artifacts. His form was exceptional enough but his movements were sluggish and I easily countered them.

Knowing that there was no point in allowing the fight to drag on, lunged in and tore the crook from his grasp with the disarming technique Luke had shown so long ago. Within a few more moments, the flail had left his hands as well. In no time flat, Carter Kane was lying face down on the sand with my sword at his throat, powerless.

"Awesome Percy, now kill him" howled Leo from behind me.

But I stayed my hand. I was a lot of things: an idiot, swordsman, some would say a hero. But when I looked in the mirror, all I saw was a guy trying to get by in the world. When I stared down at the dark skinned boy at my feet, I saw the same thing. I realized that he couldn't be more than sixteen or seventeen years old, not even a legal adult. Yet he was leader of one of the most powerful organizations on the planet. And I would bet my powers that the reason was that he earned it through trial and fire. Leo asking me to end his life was like asking me to commit suicide.

"I am going to give you two choices" I said firmly as he tilted his head toward me. "You can yield and choose to end this war now, or we can call a ceasefire around the world and you can rest up for a week, regain your strength, because I won't accept this desperate play crap. You are exhausted and this was not a fair fight. When the week is up, I'll be waiting for you here for our real final duel."

Carter looked at me like he could not believe his ears. With a flick of my wrist, I used Riptide to snatch up the flail and I squatted down to offer the pharaoh his weapon. Warily, he took the tri pronged whip. "I thought you were a murderer" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I heard that too."

We both stood and stared at each other for a moment. Slowly but surely, a smile crossed the face of my foe.

"_Tas" _commanded a voice I had heard echoing in the back of my mind since I awoke from my sleep. Out of nowhere, half a dozen ropes descended and entwined all of the present demigods and magicians. Within moments we were all trapped on the ground as we struggled to break free as our weapons had left our grasp when we were bound. The shimmering form of a very scrawny man appeared floating in the air at least ten feet above us.

"Setne" Carter hissed.

"Friend of your's?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Aw Carter, I'm hurt" the flickering ghost who was apparently called Setne responded. "You help a guy avert the apocalypse and you think you know him. However, I've got my own cataclysm to start so I'll do this as fast as I can."

He twirled around and cupped his hands like he was holding a microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, now presenting, MY EVIL MONOLOGUE!"

**Cliffhanger, muhahaha!**

**Anyway, I may be placing this story on temporary hiatus because there is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/ Night Angel trilogy crossover that I really can't off any longer. I promise to return to this as soon as possible and not drop it off a cliff like other writers.**

**As always, REVIEW!**


	6. Chapter 6

**First off, this is not a return to regular updates. Just warning you.**

Arctic Shadows

Chapter 6

Monologue (Sort Of)

Felix's POV

I'll admit it, when I saw Percy Jackson, I was terrified.

I had only ever seen him once before and in that time span; he had thrashed me and Julian without even breaking a sweat. I still had nightmares about the encounter over six months later. After all, Jackson could have killed us any time he wanted, he just didn't give a crap if we were dead or alive.

And then the duel had begun. I had thought it was going to be the most incredible battle since the final charge on Apophis. Instead, Jackson made child's play of dismembering Carter's technique and swiftly forced him to the ground. Hope abandoned me at that moment. The war was lost, the House doomed. Not actually willing to go down without a fight, I summoned an ice dagger to my hand and was about to charge in to save Carter, regardless of the rules of the battle. But then Jackson had made his offer.

I was shocked to say the least. Here Jackson had the leader of his enemy, someone who had only a day earlier killed scores of his friends. And now he was showing that same man mercy? My mind raced with a thousand thoughts but one stood out among the others. _This can't possibly be the man who killed Shelby._

Then of course, I was dragged down to the ground and tied up in a cocoon by some sentient rope just like the other five people present. We all ended up facing the sky where the short ghost was floating. He didn't look like much and if he had not restrained us, I'm relatively sure that he would have been put down by the fighters. When Carter identified the phantom as Setne, my courage immediately took a blow to the gut.

Setne was infamous among the scribes of the House of Life, both old and new. Back in his days of life, he was a powerful and cunning magician who would do anything to get want he wanted and was smart enough to blackmail and indenture gods. Death had not done anything to slow him down. Every time he arrived at the court of Osiris (Now under the management of Carter and Sadie's dad) he somehow weaseled his way. The last time, he held information on how to defeat Apophis hostage until the Kanes were forced to bring him along on the quest for the serpent's shadow where he attempted to double cross them but was out maneuvered by Anubis. Even after all that however, he still escaped with his own personal copy of the Book of Thoth, the most powerful magical tome in existence.

And his arrival now made all too much sense.

"It was you all along" I realized. "In Manhattan, Shelby said that she heard voices in her head right before she ran away. When we found her, Percy was standing over her corpse. But it was you who killed her, wasn't it?"

The fiend chuckled a bit touched his index finger to his nose. "Spot on short stuff, I can see why Carter brought you along." A small bronze dagger appeared in the air in front of the ghost. "But don't sell me short, I've been doing a lot more work than that. The light show at first contact for instance."

"That was **you**!" Jason spat, as he struggled to free himself from his bindings. "You nearly killed Piper! I'll tear you apart!"

Setne waved his hand and a gag formed over the son of Jupiter's mouth. "Yes, yes, please save the swearing of bloody vengeance for after you're banished from existence."

"What are you talking about?" Carter inquired.

Setne just grinned like he was giving away a carnival prize. He then started pacing back and forth in mid air like some college professor giving a lecture. "I mean that in less than an hour, you will all be wiped from this reality. You see at the North and South poles of this planet I have created two obelisks which sync into the Earth's magnetic field to"-

"Skip the science lesson and just go right to the part where we kick your ass" Sadie interjected.

"I see you are as touchy as ever Sadie" Setne remarked, clearly as irritated as everyone Sadie tried to annoy. "Anyways, let's just say that these obelisks act as shadow magnets. And by this point, they have gathered every sliver of a soul worth anything in this pitiful world. So my execration will obliterate every supernatural being on this planet, except me of course."

"No way" Carter declared. "Sadie and I nearly killed ourselves performing a shadow execration on just one being. Granted, it was the embodiment of chaos, but still you would need more energy than I've ever seen to power something like that."

"And you fools have been providing it to me for the last six months" Setne revealed. "Seriously, did you think I tricked you idiots into going to war for no reason? Conflict like the kind you were dishing out to each other is pure chaos energy and your factions have been so brutal that I've got enough for three mass execrations. And do you want to know the best part, I just started the war. All the suffering, all the pain, all the unthinkable, horrid atrocities, that was all you guys.

Jason, Carter, Sadie, and I all looked at sand in complete disbelief and horror at what the evil spirit had just said. Even if he had opened the door to destruction, we were the ones who had chosen to walk through. The final proof of what we had become was when Leo didn't so much as flinch at the words. But Percy was the interesting one. As I wiggled my body so that my ice dagger could slice my bonds, he looked lost in thought. I couldn't fathom why. Of everyone there, he was the only one who didn't have blood on their hands.

At last, the son of Poseidon asked, "Why keep me alive? Once you had made sure that the war had begun why didn't you just kill me? Hell you augmented my body, my powers, and cast those protective enchantments on me that staved off Egyptian magic. Though judging the current situation, I suppose you left yourself a back door for that last one."

"You are smarter than I gave you credit for Jackson" Setne admitted. "Though the upgrades to your form and abilities I can easily explain as not meant to be your toys."

I realized what he had done with a mental frying pan to the face. "You're insane!"

"What gave it away kiddo? The doomsday plot?" Setne gloated. "I needed a body to perform the ritual and I've never settled for anything but the best. Sure the preparation of a demigod body to receive an Egyptian consciousness was a delicate matter but hey, I had nothing but time. Besides Jackson, your flesh will make the second half of the spell easier to cast."

Leo finally showed terror in the confrontation. "Second half? You're targeting both pantheons?" he cried in astonishment.

Setne flashed his best grin. "Did you think I would do this half way mechanic? I don't want the Olympians to walk onto my territory when the old gods are dust. No, I'm going to wipe out everything that isn't one hundred percent regular mortal other than myself. Every monster, every magician, every half-blood, EVERY DAMN GOD!"

The fiendish ghost his cool for that last one but quickly regained his charming composure. "Oh, and just to be _cliché" _he added as an afterthought before bellowing out a powerful and extremely disconcerting evil laugh. Luckily, the phantom's stupidity granted me enough time to nearly sever the rope around me.

Setne didn't notice me and rotated himself to face Jackson. "Goodbye Jackson, I had a nice time watching you sleep" he taunted for a final psychological assault. "_Hi-nehm" _he declared as the hieroglyphs for _Join Together, _blazed in corrupting crimson as a scarlet streak lanced down to strike Percy.

I finished freeing myself and ran as fast as I could. I knew if Setne got Percy's body, no one could stop him. The spell could not be blocked but maybe it could be given a new target. So I braced myself in front of the trapped demigod and buckled as I was struck with the force of what I imagined a full speed battleship would feel like.

The last thing I could ever remember was flying away from my stolen shell.

**Hurray, we now know Setne's master plan. But just reminding you, I'm working on two other stories at this pint as well. So no promises on when the next update will be. But please REVIEW anyway.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Once again, NOT a return to regular updates.**

Arctic Shadows

Chapter 7

Set Up

Leo's POV

So the House of Life has a genocidal phantom problem. Figures.

Figures that though idiot magicians can't deal with their own problems and they become my problems, I mean our problems. Now because this psycho poltergeist wants to be the only thing magical in the world, Reyna and who knows how many other demigods are dead. But even with all the hate I've got for the magicians, I have got to give credit where credit is due. That Felix kid was one brave fool.

He managed to free himself from the magic bindings that resisted everyone else's escape attempts, including my fire blasts and jumped in the path of a magic beam thing meant for a person with at least triple his power. For the first time since my rant at Jason after the disaster of Red Sands, I felt sorry for someone other than myself. But fear replaced said pity when I saw the boy rise from the sand, looking horrified and disgusted by his own flesh.

"NO!" screamed a voice that sounded like Felix's but had a subtle undertone of magic. The body that had once belonged to the young magician leaned back and shouted at the sky in an unrestrained rage. It wasn't hard to discern that the vessel's occupant was now the villainess spirit of Setne. "Damn you boy! All that preparation and manipulation of Jackson's abilities for nothing. Why can't you hero types have even the slightest sense of self preservation?"

The psychopath settled down a moment later and stared at the hands of his new from, as if he was analyzing the skin cells or something. I wasn't looking at him because I felt the ropes binding me finally begin to give way to my fire. However, I did hear him reassess his current situation. "Not too bad actually, not bad at all. The kid's got a magic reserve like nothing I've ever seen. Bigger than even yours Carter. I'll have to make a little modification to the execration spell so the Olympians still go down but still, I could have gotten a worse body. Besides," the phantom baring Felix's face descended and plucked the Crook from the ground and pointed the weapon at the bound Carter, "this is way more theatrical. Time for you to join that Reyna chick in hell Carter."

Now let's get something straight, I hate Carter Kane. I did not save his life; I attacked Setne for insulting my dead girlfriend. I just happened to also save his skin in the process. The ghost's blasphemy gave me an immense surge of rage which I channeled into a rush of flames that incinerated my bonds. A moment later, I had leapt to my feet and sent a second blaze hurling at the body snatcher.

With a movement of such grace like I had not seen since I fought beside the gods in the climax of the Giant War, Setne flicked the Crook upward into the path of my attack and turned my inferno into a flock of doves. I didn't want to give him a moment of reprieve, so I reached into my tool belt and withdrew my war hammers. I lit both on fire and charged the villain. Setne just gave me a slasher grin that looked just plain wrong on Felix's face.

When I reached him, I discovered why he hadn't been worried. As I brought my hammers down, he side stepped behind me, causing my weapons to strike the sand, mere inches from Carter's face (so close). Before I could turn around to counter, the Crook lanced from above my shoulder and hooked itself under the opposite armpit. One second later and I had been flipped over the impish warrior and got a mouthful of sand. A moment after that I was launched twenty yards by an incredibly powerful kinetic blast, losing my war hammers and being so battered I could barely rise to my knees.

Setne stalked toward me with cruel leisure. "Tell me, did you really believe that just because you managed to force that hack snow goddess Khoine into retreat that you defeat me? I am not a god Valdez, I have no pattern. I can utilize any technique or tactic I wish and apply it with power you could never imagine. A lowly demigod could never surpass me."

"What about the one you upgraded?" I taunted with glee. My finger rose and a pinpoint beam of white hot flame flashed out of my finger to collide with the rope containing Percy. The thread seared into cinders and Percy flexed his muscles to scatter the scraps of twine to the wind. A moment later, he produced Riptide from his hand and initiated his battle hurricane, stoking gale force power from an otherwise pleasant sky.

Setne looked slightly irritated by the turn of events but otherwise remained calm. He was about to raise the crook to do battle when he suddenly whacked himself in the stomach. That brought a furious expression to his face. "Stop hanging on, just because I didn't make preparations to keep you out once I took this shell doesn't mean you can try to hitchhike. You were the one who nobly sacrificed himself so deal with it."

I had no clue what the crazy was talking about other than that he was even more nuts than I was. But Percy used the momentary distraction to free the other trapped soldiers. Realizing that he was out numbered, Setne slashed a gash in the air next to him to reveal a vortex of sand. "Anchorless portals" he bragged waving a thick papyrus scroll. "Another wonder I've nabbed from this beautiful Book of Thoth. See you in oblivion suckers." With that, he jumped into the portal and the tear closed behind him, leaving us, the great heroes, looking like dead meat.

Staggering to my feet, I popped a pill into my mouth from my tool belt that contained a special concentration of nectar and ambrosia. The battle pill was meant to be a sort of battlefield adrenal that instantly healed minor injuries such small cuts or bruises and replenished the demigod's energy. Once the pill was down my throat, I stood far more stably and turned to Jason. "What now?"

Sadie helped her brother to his feet. "We go kick Setne's bloody ass, that's what."

"I wasn't talking to you" I snapped. "I would have"-

"Leo!" Jason cut me off. "This is not the time. We are all facing complete and total destruction like never before. We need all the help we can get."

"An Argo to each pole and Setne's history" I countered.

"An Argo III will take at least an hour, most likely more to reach one of the poles from here and according to the ghost, we've got less than half that time" Jason argued. "We need all the help we can get."

I snorted in annoyance because I knew he was right. Quickly, I tossed Carter one of my pickup pills. "I'm guessing that you magicians have the same tolerance to god foods as we do so eat up. You're no use to us if you're fighting like you did against Percy."

"And if you're wrong about our tolerance?" he inquired.

"You'll burst into flames" I explained nonchalantly. "It's a win- win situation." His sister looked at me in horror. "Hey, we all might be gone in less than thirty minutes. What difference does it make if he dies now?"

Carter nodded his agreement and downed the pill. A moment later, he no longer needed to lean on his sister. Personally I was hoping it would go the other way.

Carter stepped in to help with the planning. "If any part of Felix is left in that body, Setne will be at the South Pole. That is where we're going."

"How do you know he'll be there?" Jason asked.

"Penguins."

"Alright, but your sister is not going to be your battle buddy" Percy said at last. "Setne knows that we'll probably want to split up and will have his defenses around the shadow obelisks made to fight either one us. Not both together. Besides, if Setne was planning on using his instant portals in my body, he would have to have made my body able to go through them without losing consciousness."

Everyone nodded in understanding. "What about the rest of us?" Sadie inquired. "The blokes going to the North Pole, how will we get there if you guys take the Great Pyramid portal?"

"Mrs. O'Leary can take us by shadow travel" Jason explained.

"Then what are waiting for?" Carter shouted. "We're the pantheons last line of defense, let's move."

"May the gods be with us" Jason prayed.

"Both sets" Sadie finished.

So Percy and Carter rushed up the Great Pyramid while Jason whistled for Mrs. O'Leary from where she was shadow bathing at the monument's foot. And just like that, Jason, Sadie, and I went off to see Santa Claus.

**Please REVIEW!**

**But give me until three days after House of Hades (time to read it) before you ask for another update.** **I have responsibilities to other stories (one of which I jumped out of writing the next chapter to give you guys this) and also I want to see if there is anything form House that I can include in the story. After that, I will return to updating as regularly as I can.**

**Again, please REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I keep my word.**

Arctic Shadows

Chapter 8

Arrival in the Winter Deathland (Part One)

Sadie's POV

So the day that began with my idiot brother requesting a duel to the death was ending with the wanker Setne threatening to wipe out all mystical existence. You know, even for my life, this is complete craziness. Especially since now, our only allies in defeating the bloody phantom were a trio of freaking demigods, one of whom who had made his extreme desire to see my brother and I dead quite known. So yeah, being double crossed was not the furthest thing from my mind.

However, how I was going to get the stupid hellhound hair out of my linen robes was much, much closer. Seriously, why couldn't magician's linen be black so that every bloody thing didn't show up clear as day? Oh, and freezing to death since it took about a second for me and my new demigod pals to reach the North Pole.

We had come out in a blizzard, with howling winds roaring in our ears as snow battered us from all sides. What surprised me was that I could barely see, a soft darkness inter melded with the titanic storm. The hellhound we had ridden quickly allowed us off and then ran off to curl up in a ball, possibly to maintain body heat. I was beginning to worry that we might not be able to find Setne shadow magnet obelisk thingy, even if we could survive the cold. Even when Leo attempted to summon fire to us a bit of light, the storm battered the flames away the instant they appeared.

Calling my magic bag out of the Duat, I plucked out a tiny sheet of wax paper. I pressed the small patch to my forehead and spoke an incantation. Instantly, though I could not see the new mark, I knew that a protection against cold glyph, the opposite of what Carter and I had used to pass through the Lake of Fire, had appeared on my face since I was able to stop shivering. One good thing about the war with the demigods, it had forced me and the rest of the House to make advancements in magic application.

I looked around at my new allies and held out the sticker in an offer for their use. Jason held up his hand in a graceful denial. "Our armor has internal heating and cooling to keep our bodies at the best combat temperature possible" he explained.

"Nice", I admired. "Who came up with that idea?"

"That would be me" Leo stated in a flat monotone, clearly still wondering if he should just bash my skull in with those war hammers of his. "Now let's get moving. Jason, can you clear out these winds? I don't like the idea of having to find the incorporeal bastard in this."

Jason nodded and the son of Jupiter closed his eyes in concentration. The storm did not subside completely but the three us seemed to stand at the eye, the entire winter hurricane swirling around us like a tornado. The artist of our new haven opened his eyes again. "Easier than taming _venti_", he boasted. "Now come on, let's get moving."

"How do you know where we're going?", I inquired, not willing to wander blindly off an ice cliff.

Jason stared at me incuriously. "You are kidding, right? Can't you feel that tugging sensation? The pull over in the direction?" He pointed over his shoulder to a direction behind him. Which just be unsettling, was where the storm seemed to be originating from.

Leo nodded. "I do. It's subtle but it is there. Calling us in, dragging our essences. If that magnet has already nabbed the shadow whatever parts of our souls, I'm guessing Setne never bothered to make sure it didn't try to take the rest of our souls with it. Lucky us, now let's go."

So we began a perilous trek through the icy wasteland, the snow on the ground coming up to my knees with each step. After several minutes with only the ghostly whistling of the gale as company, Jason decided to try to break the ice. Metaphorically of course. "So Sadie, you're a little young to be Chief Lector, aren't you? Why did Carter think you were ready at fifteen? For that matter why is he pharaoh at sixteen?"

"Says the guy who is praetor of a Roman Legion at seventeen", I teased with a smirk. "Long story that involves my dad becoming the god of the dead, bringing back the sun god, and having to rely of stupid Setne and his stupid ghost knowledge of shadow execration to kill the celestial embodiment of Chaos and save the world."

Leo whistled, though I couldn't tell if he was admiring our accomplishments or mocking me. Given his next words, I would guess mockery. "And here we just had to fight an army of nearly unkillable immortals and the god damn Earth itself. Of course there was the part I wasn't there for before that..."

So the boys and I went on to exchange stories of our respective adventures before we went to war with each other. I told them about how Carter and I struggled against nearly infinite powers of Apophis. Jason gave me the full military debriefing of the Titan War and the battles of both Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood against the evil Titan Lord Saturn. Or Kronos. Whatever he is called.

Even the disgruntled repair boy himself pitched in with the tale of the Giant War all the way up to the final battle at Athens. However, a few details confused me.

"If Jason resigned his praetorship to Frank because you chose Greece over Rome, how come they flip flopped back again?", I inquired. "And what happened to Calypso?"

Immediately I could tell that I had struck a nerve. Leo's shoulders shot straight up and his hands caught fire. Not the regular red-orange fire that Zia usually indulges in either. His palms were lit up with pure white flames.

I have no doubt that he would have incinerated me on the spot if Jason had not intervened. He placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Probably something akin to, "Don't kill the loud Egyptian, we need her as magic fodder." Okay so Jason probably wouldn't phrase it like that, but Leo would likely interoperate it that way. And since the molten fists of destruction had fizzled out, I suppose he was convinced.

He went on ahead of us however; right to the edge of our protective seal allowing Jason to drop back to speak privately to me. "Sorry about Leo, he has been depressed since, you know, what happened to Reyna. And Calypso has always been a touchy subject at the best of times."

"So how about you tell me why you and Frank flip flopped instead?", I suggested eager to shift to a less volatile subject.

Jason merely shrugged. "Not much to say", he answered. "In the final battle in Athens, I needed to be Roman for a specific event and so I did what had to be done. Frank never wanted power and for some reason felt that I would be the better _praetor, _so he handed over the purple cloak."

"Do you always do what needs to be done?", I inquired warily.

The blond warrior flashed a bleak expression across his face for a second, not anger or hostility. Just weary acceptance. I did not know how or what, but I could tell that Jason Grace knew more about the coming battle than he was letting on. "When I must", he responded sternly.

"Guys" Leo called back. The three of us stopped at the edge of a vacuum identical to our own in shape and function, but triple the size, at least fifty yards in diameter. At the center of the circle however, was a twenty five foot tall ice obelisk covered in various complex hieroglyphic writings. "That is it", Leo declared. "Can you feel it? That is what is pulling us in. We really are at the eye of the storm."

Jason nodded in agreement and turned to me. "What do we do about this thing?"

I gave the monument a quick once over. "We can't destroy it", I stated firmly. "That will just the execration off, which since you two are the ones attracted to this thing, I'm guessing would set off the death pulse for your pantheon. Luckily, I can deactivate the ritual if you can give me the time."

"Good" Leo declared. "Let's move fast then. There is no way Setne left this place unguarded."

No sooner had the son of Hephaestus spoken then the plain of ice between us and the obelisk rose up. Standing before our unfortunate band of a pair of demigods and a smoking hot magician was a twenty foot tall, bulky frozen giant, identical to Felix's favorite Mythomagic monster, the Ice Titan. With no head, neck or face of any kind, the titan was essentially a glacier with massive arms and powerful legs. The flat face of its permafrost front was completely covered in what I recognized to be extremely potent protection runes.

But I only knew we were goners when Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, _praetor _of the Twelfth Legion _Fulminata,_ slayer of Krios, master of _venti, _and toppler of the black throne of Kronos muttered one word. "Crap."

**Review Please!**


	9. Chapter 9

Arctic Shadows

Chapter 9

Arrival in Winter Death Land (Part Two)

Percy's POV

The thing about the South Pole, I expected it to be cold.

Then of course I realized that my armor had built in heating so that revelation was negated. I had no idea how Carter managed not to become a Popsicle but I guessed that the sticker of the strange symbol he put on his forehead was a significant factor. However, I extremely doubted that it gave him GPS for Setne's doomsday obelisk (through the freaking windstorm his portal dropped us in) so I was skeptical at first when we started walking a random direction.

"I can feel it" he explained curtly. Realizing that I needed a little bit more than that to have a clue, he continued, "Setne's obelisk attracts our shadows, intern calling to us, because they are a lot more than just our silhouette against sunlight. It is our _sheut, _a fifth of soul, our legacy, everything that we have left upon the world. As long as your shadow exists, you can go on, dead or no. That is why Setne's execration is so dangerous."

"He won't just kill us; the ritual won't leave an afterlife to go to. He will erase our very existence, make our legacies meaningless. Not even a god can come back from that kind of complete desolation. We will all be banished to eternal, never ending oblivion if he succeeds."

"Wow, aren't you just a bright ball of sunshine" I teased. Secretly though, I began making a tactical overview of the situation. If the Egyptian death weapon was where Carter and I were trudging, then that meant that his sister as well as Jason and Leo were going to have to save the Olympian pantheon. The good news seemed to be that while Setne was certainly an incredibly powerful magician who managed to shave off death like an unfortunate pimple, he did not seem to be able to be in two places at once. Or at least, Carter didn't think he could.

I turned to my Egyptian ally, managing to make out his dark form in the white hurricane around us. "So, you've fought Setne before. Do you think we can beat him in a fight?" I asked loudly to be heard over the roaring winds.

Fortunately, Carter heard me and I think might have shook his head. "I don't know" he responded. "When I was with him, he was a ghost so he was pretty much limited to being a manipulative bastard. Not to say that that in itself wasn't deadly. But now that he has a body again, especially one as powerful as Felix's, I have no idea what he is capable of. But if the thrashing he gave Leo is any indication, we are going to be in for the fight of our lives."

"Great like I haven't had enough of those to go around" I muttered with my face to the ground.

"Try fighting the eternal embodiment of Chaos" Carter cracked. I looked up and realized that the windstorm had for some reason subsided, enabling Carter and I to speak at normal volume.

Deciding to take the opportunity for some light banter before all hell broke loose, I countered. "That shouldn't be too hard; I mean I have survived against the Night and Hell."

"You mean you fought **in** the night and **in **hell?"

"No, I mean I fought Nyx and Tartarus" I nonchalantly stated. "Though truthfully, it less fought and more Annabeth and I ran away as fast as we could."

Carter stopped me where I was standing. I looked up and saw that the reason the storm was no longer battering us was because we had reached our destination. Maybe twenty yards in front of us was a twenty foot tall obelisk made of ice covered with various Egyptian Hieroglyphs that I guessed shielded it from common assaults. According to Carter, we didn't want to destroy the thing anyway since that would set of the apocalypse ritual. We needed to get in close, so the pharaoh could use his magic know how to take two minutes and deactivate the doomsday device. The whole thing was a simple plan, which meant that it would soon become complicated, especially since we only had about ten minutes to go.

Carter turned to face me. "You just told me that your greatest victories were when you ran away" he reminded me. "Can I count on you to stand by me to save both our worlds from annihilation? Because if we don't go all in here, every trick of every trade we have, we are all finished."

I was shocked that this guy could even think I was a coward. After all, I was in the freaking Arctic with him trying to avert mythological Armageddon. But I also had to remind myself that this guy did not know me at all, and was basing his opinion solely on what he had heard from enemies, former and recent, as well as the indication I had just given him about myself. After all, he never saw me battle Ares, or Hyperion, or Polybotes any more than I had seen him battle his greatest foes. I nodded to him. "I don't abandon people, I don't give up, and we are going to make sure that both pantheons make it through this safe and sound."

"How irritatingly heroic Jackson" remarked a voice that I really did not want to hear. From behind the obelisk emerged, the small form formally occupied by the young magician named Felix but I knew was now under the control of Setne. But as when I had seen him in Egypt in the linen robes common of magicians, he was now wearing a black suit jacket over a red t-shirt and jeans with white running shoes. Around his neck, he wore a golden chain of interlocking _ankhs _while a belt of the same style entwined his waist. The crook he stole from Carter was hanging gracelessly from that same cord. He had on a sinister smile that would have made The Joker proud. He opened his hands as if greeting us. "Can't we all just get along?"

Carter and I answered him by drawing the crook and Riptide respectively. "Guess not" the villain joked. We charged.

**I have decided to shortened the series to a trilogy, so this is unfortunately the final volume of Judgment Wars.**

**Please REVIEW!**


End file.
